The Oasis - May 17, 2023
Author: Rev. Eric Dupee
May 18, 2023
Over the next couple weeks, the focus of our worship will be the Holy Spirit. This Sunday, we will evoke the Spirit as we welcome seven confirmands as members of the church. May 28 is Pentecost, the day we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit to the church. The Rev. James Forbes once wrote, “The anointing of the Holy Spirit is the process by which one comes to a fundamental awareness of God’s appointment, empowerment, and guidance for the vocation to which we are called as the body of Christ. It is that process that leads us to yield fully to the revealed will of God. Out of a sense of divine power working within us, we are made ready to go forth to be about the task of ministry.”
I’m excited there are young folk among us that are making the decision to be members of the church, to be empowered by the Holy Spirit, and to answer God’s call to be disciples of Jesus Christ. I hope you will join us this Sunday for this special event. It will be a time for all of us to remember the vows we have made in our baptisms or confirmations. It will be a time to reflect on the Holy Spirit acting within each of us.
May the words of Harry Emerson Fosdick’s great hymn “God of Grace and God of Glory” be our prayer:
God of grace and God of Glory,
On thy people pour thy power;
Crown thine ancient Church’s story;
Bring her bud to glorious flower.
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